


On Popcorn and Hauntings

by amtrak12



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 12:35:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8144249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amtrak12/pseuds/amtrak12
Summary: Erin's shoulders slump in disbelief. She looks over to Patty. "I could've been killed from throwing popcorn in the air."

  "Yeah, I've already accepted this place is gonna kill me one day." Patty reaches across the table to pluck another stray kernel from Erin's hair. "And when it happens, I'm coming back to haunt Holtzmann cause it'll be her fault I'm dead."
-- or Holtzmann convinces Erin to be silly for five minutes and they almost blow up the lab





	

**Author's Note:**

> My polybusters soulmate fic turned into an epic length Thing and I needed a breather from it. So I decided to try and flesh out Erin and Holtzmann's dynamic because I don't know what that is for me yet other than Not What Fandom Says :P

"Hey, Erin. Catch."

A piece of popcorn smacks Erin's cheek before she can even turn her head to look. She brushes it off her shoulder and fixes Holtzmann with a glare. "What are you doing?"

"You're supposed to catch it with your mouth. See?" Holtzmann tosses another kernel into the air -- this time above her head -- and leans back to catch it. The popcorn hits her nose and falls to floor.

Erin smirks. "You're supposed to catch it with your mouth."

Holtzmann grins. "Here, try."

Erin realizes her mistake the second that grin shows up. She's now been pulled into this game like a cohort instead of discouraging Holtzmann from throwing popcorn around the lab. Where is Patty and Abby when she needs them?

"Holtz, don't--" She flinches when a kernel hits her between the eyes.

Holtzmann shakes her head, still grinning. "Terrible. Here, try again."

"I'm not--" The next throw goes wide over the table and nowhere near where Erin could catch it. "Well, you could at least give me a good throw."

She stands up from her stool to get a better range of motion because she's involved in this now. She doesn't know how it happened, but she's involved. (Stubbornness and an aversion to failure: that's usually what ropes her into situations like this.)

Holtzmann continues to throw badly. Erin comes close to finally catching a piece in her mouth, but then the next throw sails entirely over her head. She huffs and puts her hands on her hips. "Okay, you're doing this on purpose now."

Holtzmann laughs and digs out a whole handful of popcorn from the bag. "Here, I'll raise your odds." She tosses the whole handful in the air at once. Erin doesn't even try. She just ducks her head and lets the popcorn rain down over her.

"I can't catch them all!"

"No, you just catch one, see?" Holtzmann tosses up another handful in the air for herself. Sure enough, she successfully catches one of the pieces in her mouth and then throws her arm up in victory.

"One piece," Erin insists. "Don't throw them all at once. It's too much to focus on."

Holtzmann shrugs and tosses just a single piece. This time Erin manages to get under it and it lands in her mouth.

"Hey!" Holtzmann throws both arms up and nearly tips the popcorn bag off her lap. Erin smiles around her chewing and takes a little bow.

"Here," Erin says after swallowing. "I'll throw." She pulls some popcorn out of the bag and moves a few steps away again.

Holtzmann catches the second and third throws and then misses the next. Erin laughs and gears up to throw again.

The popcorn arches perfectly. Holtzmann gets under it and opens her mouth. The kernel hits her teeth first, but instead of falling inside, it bounces off at a high angle. The popcorn arcs away, away towards the table against the wall -- and lands _right_ into the new multi-use ghost trap Holtzmann has been concocting.

The trap sparks. Singes. Erin winces, and Holtzmann's eyebrows fly up. Both stare at each other in frozen silence, not certain how much damage they just caused. The trap sizzles down into a gentle smoking.

"Hey Holtz," Abby's voice carries over the sounds of the front door opening. Erin and Holtzmann immediately scramble back to their seats, both dropping popcorn everywhere, as they try to look innocent and nonchalant. Two seconds later, Abby and Patty are back in the lab area dropping their bags from the office supply store.

"How difficult would it be to have an automatic door opener for when our hands are full?" Abby asks.

Holtzmann shrugs from where she's slouched back against the center table. "Easy as pie."

"Great cause--" Abby stops and sniffs. "Did you burn the popcorn?" Patty frowns and sniffs too.

Erin struggles to keep a neutral expression on her face. "No. No, nothing got burned." She glances over at Holtzmann who's shaking her head in the negative.

"You have popcorn in your hood," Patty says, pointing at Erin.

"Pft, no." Erin rolls her eyes in denial. "I don't have any... oh yeah, hmm. How'd that get there?" She picks it off and sets the kernel down on the table.

Abby smirks. "You're supposed to catch the popcorn in your mouth."

Erin glares while Holtzmann starts giggling.

"Holtzmann threw a whole handful at me," Erin grumbles as she brushes off the crumbs that have also gathered on her sleeve.

"What did you guys hit anyway?" Abby asks, walking further into the lab. "Because something is definitely burning in here."

"The new ghost trap." Holtzmann points.

"Is it still stable?"

"Eh." Holtzmann waves her hand in dismissal. "There's like a five percent chance we'll blow up."

"What?" Erin snaps her head around. "Are you serious? Holtzmann!"

Holtzmann doesn't look fazed. "Lab reports in school give you a ten percent margin of error. This is well within that range."

"Lab reports as in the ones undergraduates do for their intro classes?" Erin asks. "They get a one percent margin of error, and that has nothing to do with our chances of blowing up! A five percent chance is about five _hundred_ percent too high."

Patty takes a seat at the table across from Erin. She doesn't look nearly panicked enough that the odds of them all dying in the next ten minutes are significant.

Holtzmann stares for a long moment like she's absorbing what Erin said. "I'll fix it," she finally says and gets up to check on the ghost trap.

Erin's shoulders slump in disbelief. She looks over to Patty. "I could've been killed from throwing popcorn in the air."

"Yeah, I've already accepted this place is gonna kill me one day." Patty reaches across the table to pluck another stray kernel from Erin's hair. "And when it happens, I'm coming back to haunt Holtzmann cause it'll be her fault I'm dead."

Erin blinks. "You've thought about who you would haunt if you died?"

Patty raises her eyebrows. "You mean you haven't?"

"It's not really something I've wanted to think about."

"Oh yeah," Holtzmann's voice cuts in. She's squinting at what appears to be a very charred popcorn kernel. "This puppy is pretty well radiated. Abby!" she calls. "I need a lead box. The EPA isn't happy when I expose the wildlife to beta radiation."

Erin stares as Abby walks back over to discuss how to properly dispose of the radioactive popcorn.

"Dr. Filmore," she says and looks at Patty again. "The man who fired me from Columbia for believing in ghosts. That's who I would haunt if I died."

Patty hums and nods. "Yeah, that's a good choice."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr @amtrak12


End file.
